Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2022
Keywords
diffusion; addiction; relapse; accumbens; insula
Abstract
Diffusion tractography allows identification and measurement of structural tracts in the human brain previously associated with motivated behavior in animal models. Recent findings indicate that the structural properties of a tract connecting the midbrain to nucleus accumbens (NAcc) are associated with a diagnosis of stimulant use disorder (SUD), but not relapse. In this preregistered study, we used diffusion tractography in a sample of patients treated for SUD (n = 60) to determine whether qualities of tracts projecting from medial prefrontal, anterior insular, and amygdalar cortices to NAcc might instead foreshadow relapse. As predicted, reduced diffusion metrics of a tract projecting from the right anterior insula to the NAcc were associated with subsequent relapse to stimulant use, but not with previous diagnosis. These findings highlight a structural target for predicting relapse to stimulant use and further suggest that distinct connections to the NAcc may confer risk for relapse versus diagnosis.
Citation
Tisdall, L., MacNiven, K. H., Padula, C. B., Leong, J. K., & Knutson, B. (2022). Brain Tract Structure Predicts Relapse to Stimulant Drug Use. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119 (26), e2116703119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116703119
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
